Posted on 11/16/2005 6:48:24 PM PST by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2005 – U.S. Air Force F-15s, F-16s and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles made air strikes against insurgent fighters near the Iraq-Syria border Nov. 14 in support of Operation Steel Curtain. After ground forces with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, swept into Ubaydi, Iraq, a town near Karabilah, and came in contact with enemy fighters, F-15s were called in and delivered precision-guided bombs against enemy forces in a grove of trees. A Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a building from where enemy forces were shooting and successfully drove them from their location.
Later that day, F-16s and a Predator responded to provide ground support in the same area. The Predator successfully launched a Hellfire missile against insurgents entrenched in a tree line.
The intent of Operation Steel Curtain is to restore Iraqi sovereign control along the Iraq-Syria border and destroy the al Qaeda terrorists operating throughout the Qaim region, officials said. The towns of Husaybah and Karabilah were cleared earlier in the operation, which began Nov. 5, and a permanent security presence has been established in those towns. About 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers and 2,500 U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors are participating in Operation Steel Curtain.
Officials suspect that many of terrorists now fighting in Ubaydi fled from Husaybah and Karabilah, the first two cities secured by Iraqi and coalition Forces at the beginning of the operation.
While the fighting has been sporadic, commanders on the ground have characterized the operation as some of the heaviest since Operation Steel Curtain began. Intelligence reports indicate that the strong resistance to the Iraqi and coalition push into the city is due in large part to the fact that terrorists believe they are trapped and have nowhere else to go.
Ubaydi is located on the banks of the Euphrates River, 20 kilometers from the Syrian border.
(From a U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news release.)
Air Force is helping to chew up the Terrorists
let's hope they can supress this with more use of air power, we lost 5 Marines there today.
God rest their souls
Good. More dead terrorists.
hope kennedy,pelogosi,reid dont find out our air force is hurting the terrorist! they will have them up on the hill for "answers"
Seems like "make work" for the F15 guys, relagated to air-to-ground work bombing trees for god sake! Isn't this what area denial munitions were for?
Where are the marine close air assets one wonders. (Not that the marines have to do all the work....)
Which reminds me... Remember before Gulf 1, Time Magazine, that bastion of forward thinking, came out with an issue suggesting we didn't need the Marine Corp any more because there were no more beaches to storm? Seems the Marines are doing all the heavy lifting the last few months.
Well,.... Iraq's one big beach; right?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1523548/posts
Air Force fighters strike insurgents
Air Force Links ^ | Nov 16, 2005
Posted on 11/16/2005 9:51:17 PM EST by SandRat
11/16/2005 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Air Force F-15 Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons and MQ-1 Predators flew air strikes against anti-Iraqi forces near the Iraq-Syria border in support of Operation Steel Curtain.
After Marines swept into Ubaydi, a town near Karabilah, Nov. 14, they came in contact with anti-Iraqi forces. The F-15s flew in and dropped precision-guided bombs against enemy forces in a grove of trees.
BTTT
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